Mods Suggestions. What To Do Next?

[Coup de Grace]

96' LT1 WS6... Current mods; long tube headers, full 3" exhaust w/ electronic cut-outs, 3.73 gears, stage 2 auto tranny, frame tied (welded), drag radials. No clue if a cam has been added. However, if so- it's very mild. Also, no clue on MAF or possibility of injectors.

Once the drags are warmed up, it goes like a S.O.B.

What's my next logical step for decent power gains?

[2002ssslp]

Get you PCM to Frost, Intake and TB, head porting.

[35th-ANV-SS]

Stall

[5.0THIS]

I am assuming you already have a cold air intake of some sort. You dont need to mess with the stock throttle body for now, it isnt holding you back. At this point you have most of the bolt ons to make power. So if you wanted to go into the motor, porting the heads along with a new cam and valvetrain. You would need a pcm tune at that point. Not sure what stall you have, but that would help if you're still stock. Being that you have the auto tranny, your rear axle will hold up for now, but it's still a ten bolt and you never know.


Beyond that stuff you're looking at a full motor build with a power adder if you really want to go nuts.

[Coup de Grace]

I am assuming you already have a cold air intake of some sort. You dont need to mess with the stock throttle body for now, it isnt holding you back. At this point you have most of the bolt ons to make power. So if you wanted to go into the motor, porting the heads along with a new cam and valvetrain. You would need a pcm tune at that point. Not sure what stall you have, but that would help if you're still stock. Being that you have the auto tranny, your rear axle will hold up for now, but it's still a ten bolt and you never know.


Beyond that stuff you're looking at a full motor build with a power adder if you really want to go nuts.

Sorry, forgot to mention that I do have a stall as well. It's a WS6, so I guess that that takes care of the CAI. I should have specified a little bit more about the car before launching into the question. It's a hard top WS6, so I'm not sure I should mess with the internals all that much. If I do, I need to be able to hold on to the original parts, so I can return the car back to its original stock condition one day down the road. I think maybe a cam would be a good idea. I have zero experience with internal engine stuff. That being said, I guess ,for me, porting is out of the question, as it would alter the block. Correct? However, doing some valvetrain work I assume that I could always put it back to stock when I need to. Am I right?

Can you lead me in a good direction of what kind of cam to go with and where to look. I would like to go with a pretty big cam. As for the valvetrain and tune, I guess my best bet is to try one of the speed shops around town. My brother and I own a speedometer shop, so we deal with a lot of the shops around town for re-calibration after they have installed new gears and such. Hence, I could probably get a pretty good deal.

[35th-ANV-SS]

With any cam swap you should also do:

- oil pump
- timing chain
- valve springs
- hardened push rods

What is your goal for the car? Usually you want to match your cam up with your stall.

[Coup de Grace]

With any cam swap you should also do:

- oil pump
- timing chain
- valve springs
- hardened push rods

What is your goal for the car? Usually you want to match your cam up with your stall.

Thanks! Good to know.

My goal? I don't really know. Make it quicker- I guess. My current set-up is definitely street/strip. I would like to keep it street-able with as much power as possible without doing anything that is not reversible in the future.

I checked the paperwork for the Stage 2 tranny. All it states is that the stall torque converter is an Edge. It was an additional $700. That's all I have. Googled it and no other info other than pretty solid reviews on the Edge stall converter. Does this help?

[5.0THIS]

With any cam swap you should also do:

- oil pump
- timing chain
- valve springs
- hardened push rods

What is your goal for the car? Usually you want to match your cam up with your stall.

This is an LT1. He wont be messing with the oil pump unless he wants to pull the motor. Doesnt really need to if all is working well. As far as additional items for a cam install on top of what is listed above, dont forget roller rockers (self aligning or guideplates with non self aligning), retainers, locks, gasket set, and a few other odds and ends.


As far as keeping the car close to stock, only do that if you personally want it returned to stock or you plan on selling it fairly soon. The hard reality is these cars wont be worth much in the future, and if they do eventually become worth something, it wont be for decades. So do what you want to do with the car.

[Coup de Grace]

This is an LT1. He wont be messing with the oil pump unless he wants to pull the motor. Doesnt really need to if all is working well. As far as additional items for a cam install on top of what is listed above, dont forget roller rockers (self aligning or guideplates with non self aligning), retainers, locks, gasket set, and a few other odds and ends.


As far as keeping the car close to stock, only do that if you personally want it returned to stock or you plan on selling it fairly soon. The hard reality is these cars wont be worth much in the future, and if they do eventually become worth something, it wont be for decades. So do what you want to do with the car.

I would love to go crazy with the car, but I find it hard to believe that a vehicle that is 1 of 32 in the world won't be worth much. I'm looking down the road; about 15-20 years. Do you think that people, in their wildest dreams would have ever thought that those P.O.S. mid-to-late-70's T/As would be fetching $30,000-$60,000 at auctions around the country? One 1979 T/A was just bought for $85,000. Again, I have a hard time convincing myself that one day my car, being 1 of 32 hard top WS6s won't be worth a decent amount.

[5.0THIS]

Times have changed. I understand you're passionate about your car and you love it (and thats great), but the hard reality is it wont be worth much for a long time (alot longer than 15-20 years). It being 1 of 32 because of some odd combination of options wont mean much. Things arent going to happen with 90s cars like they did with 60s cars. I'd say the only 4th gen with a real shot at true collectibility are the 1997 LT4 camaros and Firehawks, of which there are little more than 125 total. And also, mid 70s trans ams arent fetching 30-60K around the country. 99% of them are far far less than that. I've been to the last two mecum auctions, including the one in kissimmee last month with over 2200 cars.

[Coup de Grace]

Times have changed. I understand you're passionate about your car and you love it (and thats great), but the hard reality is it wont be worth much for a long time (alot longer than 15-20 years). It being 1 of 32 because of some odd combination of options wont mean much. Things arent going to happen with 90s cars like they did with 60s cars. I'd say the only 4th gen with a real shot at true collectibility are the 1997 LT4 camaros and Firehawks, of which there are little more than 125 total. And also, mid 70s trans ams arent fetching 30-60K around the country. 99% of them are far far less than that. I've been to the last two mecum auctions, including the one in kissimmee last month with over 2200 cars.

Time will tell, I guess. Thanks for all your help thus far.

[Coup de Grace]

Anyone know if there are kits available that include the cam and the other components, or do I have to purchase every thing separately?

Okay. Edited post. Searched and found some kits. I need recommendations on what cam/kit to go with.